When words fly, trouble tags along

Recently a young man from Richlands was charged with posting some remarks about a potential school shooting on Twitter.

The Daily News

Recently a young man from Richlands was charged with posting some remarks about a potential school shooting on Twitter.

Whether he will be found guilty is for a judge and jury to determine, but the implications of making remarks such as those he’s charged with making provides another timely tutorial on the reach of modern electronic modes of communication.

Modern communication, with its instantaneous and global reach, makes for a potentially dangerous combination when coupled with unrestrained speech. Often individuals — not all of them young people — don’t comprehend what they’re doing when they post indiscriminately to publicly accessible sites like Facebook, Twitter and even the comments sections of newspaper websites, such as the one at JDNews.com.

In this increasingly goldfish bowl-like world we all inhabit, something youngsters or those new to the technologies need to understand is that one’s words and deeds can come back to haunt them — and often in record time.

People have lost jobs, friends and spouses after posting inappropriate material on the Internet. Photographs depicting nudity, debauchery or other moments that are private and probably best not photographed at all, much less shared with strangers, have ruined marriages, job prospects and college plans.

Clearly, the Internet and some of the new communications devices are vehicles for free speech; but not everyone with access should assume they know enough to competently or securely operate in the online universe.

Posting anything with little or no thought as to its ramifications can ruin lives, lead to lawsuits and change irrevocably how others view the people in their own lives. Relationships can rise and fall with the flow of words on the Web, as can fortunes.

For some, posting without giving weight to the implications of one’s actions can even lead to a loss of freedom or cost someone their life as in recent, tragic cases involving online bullying and resultant suicides.

Just because an individual has access and can post whatever enters his or her mind for everyone to see and read, it’s not always a good idea to do so. Anything written in the heat or jocularity of the moment and sent without taking some time for reflection is usually a bad idea.

Nothing in the digital world can be taken back; users should assume everything is permanent — so whatever one chooses to put out there demands some thought beforehand.

It is to be hoped that the experience of one Richlands High School student will be a teachable moment for both parents and other students alike.

Even the most experienced user needs an occasional reminder that we’re all capable of being victim of our own words.